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Series Overview
In this series, we are working through the book of John to make sure we really know what it looks like to follow Jesus.
American Christianity likes to paint this picture of Jesus as this super nice guy who was politically correct and never required too much of you.
Well, we’ve been duped, and it makes us quite ineffective when we don’t really know Jesus. But you are getting to know the real Jesus through this series.
Healing Kickoff
Today, we are going to witness Jesus kick off a slew of healing miracles. One after the other after the other. And I expect the words you hear today to release God’s healing power in your life.
We are at the point in the life of Jesus where He had just had the encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus stayed with the Samaritans for two days and then went back to Cana, where He had turned water into wine.
There, He met a government official who begged Him to come heal his son. Keep in mind, Jesus had yet to perform a healing miracle.
However, these people in Cana knew about Jesus because of the time when he made a whip, ran people out of the temple, and turned over tables. Remember that from that week?
Interestingly enough, the Bible tells us that Jesus was welcomed because they remembered what happened at the temple. It seemed like Jesus would have scared people off, but it did quite the opposite. It attracted people to Him.
But what moved this guy into thinking Jesus could heal?
They had yet to see Him heal. They had only seen him turn over tables and run people off with a whip. But somehow this man was able to sense that Jesus was standing at the starting line of a wave of healing miracles.
A Different Response
So this guy asked Jesus to heal his son. And in true Jesus fashion, He responds to this man in a way we wouldn’t expect:
John 4:48-53 NKJV – Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.”
I mean, come on. That’s how He responds to a man whose son is dying? That’s just cruel. Shouldn’t He have said, “Oh, I’m so sorry to hear about your son. I’ll pray for you.”
I hope by now you are seeing that the way modern Christianity paints this soft picture of Jesus is totally inaccurate. Trust me, He would not be part of the “woke” culture of today. Actually, the “woke” people would rip Him to shreds for hate speech.
But Jesus ain’t woke, and neither was this man. Take a look at how he responds to Jesus:
Faith for a Miracle
John 4:48-53 NKJV – The nobleman said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies!”
I just love how this guy wasn’t offended by Jesus being insensitive. He wasn’t looking for Jesus to be nice, He was looking for Jesus to be powerful and work a healing miracle.
I think America should take a tip from this guy. Instead of looking for Jesus to be nice about our sin, we should look for Him to be powerful and destroy the sin in our lives.
When we look to Jesus for acceptance of our sin, we dismiss the power of God. But when we look to Jesus for the power we need to overcome sin and sickness, look at what happens:
John 4:48-53 NKJV – Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.” So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.
Notice this man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him. He didn’t yet believe in Jesus as the Messiah, but He believed that his son would be healed by the words of Jesus.
Some of us who have been in church for decades don’t even believe the words that Jesus says.
We believe the pastor that said healing went away with the disciples. We believe our professor who said sex is a freedom with no boundaries. We believe the doctor who says the disease is incurable.
Why are we so quick to believe what another person tells us, but struggle to believe what God tells us in His word? It’s time to put a stop to that nonsense, because:
Receiving healing is as simple as believing the words of Jesus.
If you need a healing miracle in your life, Jesus is not withholding. You don’t have to earn it. You don’t have to deserve it. All you have to do is believe His Word.
When the doctor tells you otherwise, believe God’s Word anyways. When your symptoms tell you otherwise, believe God’s Word anyways. You must position God’s Word above everyone else’s.
This government official that we are talking about right now did not yet believe in Jesus as Messiah. But He did believe Jesus could heal. And look at what happened:
John 4:48-53 NKJV – And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, “Your son lives!” Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.”
This is the kickoff to the healing miracles of Jesus. He wasn’t even physically there to heal the boy. He healed the boy with His words.
This blows to smithereens the idea that healing miracles went away with Jesus. He doesn’t have to be here in the flesh for us to receive healing! Even when He was here in the flesh, He didn’t have to be physically there to heal someone.
Receiving healing is as simple as believing the words of Jesus.
Somebody is getting this. Years of wrong thinking are being washed out of your mind right now. Receive your healing miracle.
The Results of the Miracle
Healing wasn’t the only miracle that happened to this government official. Look at what happened next:
John 4:48-53 NKJV – And he himself believed, and his whole household.
His whole family got saved. Now they will spend eternity with each other in heaven. Wow. Jesus wants to heal you. He wants to save you from hell. He wants to free you from sin. He wants to do it all.
This reminds me of another amazing healing miracle of Jesus. I want you to see this one for yourself. Take a look at this five-minute video.
The Lame Man Healed
Did you catch how Jesus didn’t just heal the man, but also forgave his sins? Y’all, forgiveness of sins and healing from sickness are one in the same for Jesus.
You don’t have a problem believing that Jesus forgives your sin. So why do you have a problem believing He heals your sickness? To Jesus, they are one in the same. So let Him take care of both.
God’s will is to heal. There is never a time that God wants you to be sick. He doesn’t use sickness to teach you a lesson. He doesn’t use it to keep you humble. God wants you well. Period.
There are at least nine other healing miracles recorded in the gospels before the next one that is mentioned in the book of John.
They weren’t all individual miracles either. There were also times when Jesus healed an entire crowd of people. Take a look:
Matthew 8:16-17 NKJV – When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.”
There’s many people that believe in healing, but they’re not convinced that Jesus wants to heal everyone every time. But the truth is, Jesus wants to heal ALL who are sick. Not some. Not every now and then. But everyone, every time.
The only thing that gets in the way is us.
God doesn’t force His will on anyone. Yes, His will is for you to be healed, but He will never force it on you because He never forces anyone to do anything. He gave us free will.
Excuses Block Healing
The next story in the book of John illustrates this really well. There was a pool in Jerusalem called Bethesda. An angel of the Lord would come down on occasion to stir up the water. And whoever got in the water first was healed.
So of course, there was a crowd of sick people around this pool all the time. They were blind, lame, or paralyzed, and they just sat and waited for the water to stir.
To give you an idea of the kind of people hanging around this pool, the Bible points out one man in particular:
John 5:5-9 NLT – One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years.
This guy had been sick longer than I have been alive! And there he was, sitting by this pool, hoping he would be the next person to make it to the water first.
John 5:5-9 NLT – When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”
This was a rhetorical question. Of course he wanted to be well. Why else would he be by this pool?
Common Excuses
Anybody who’s sick wants to be well. But we come up with all kinds of excuses as to why we have to stay sick. Just like this man did:
John 5:5-9 NLT – “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”
“I want somebody else to believe for me. Can’t the pastor just come over so I can piggyback off his faith?”
“The doctor said it is incurable. I have no choice but to live my life trying to manage this sickness.”
“I can’t help but believe WebMD more than I believe the Word of God. I mean, isn’t science the end-all-be-all? The intellectuals will make fun of me if I believe the Word of God more than I believe medical science.”
Excuses, excuses, excuses. Jesus knew this man wanted to be healed, but his excuses were holding him back.
So what does Jesus do? Gives him another chance.
The Choice to Be Well
John 5:5-9 NLT – Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”
He gave the man a choice. You can lay there and stay sick, or you can believe the word I just gave you, put action to it, and be healed.
If this man would not have believed and acted on what Jesus just told him to do, he would have remained sick probably for the rest of his life. But when the Word of the Lord comes to you, and you believe it and act on it, here’s what happens:
John 5:5-9 NLT – Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking!
Praise God! This is God’s will for every person. He wants to heal everyone, every time.
There’s no sickness too great. There’s no disease incurable. There’s no cause of sickness that prevents God from healing. Even if you did it to yourself, He still wants to heal you.
Receiving healing is as simple as believing the words of Jesus.
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